Retrodiction
by Gedanken
Summary: A three-eyed Murkrow with the ability to predict the future, and a Snivy that thinks she's a detective; what more could I possibly ask for? Oh yes, the lovely ability to understand Pokémon.
1. A Prelude to Prediction

As usual, everything was a mix of noise at the ranch. Mareep squeaking out their good mornings, the herdier shouting about how well they'd do their job today… It was terrible, really. Definitely not a racket you'd want to wake up to. But, that's one of the many things I have to wake up to. It's part of my job to get up early. If I didn't get myself up, my mom would barge through the door yelling about how I'm the laziest son in the whole universe - the normal routine.

I sighed, yawned, and slid off of the bed with the most dramatic stretch I could muster, then struggled to get my brain into gear. The faster I got dressed, the faster I could avoid a certain someone…

This is pretty much my life in a eggshell. Working at Floccesy Ranch. It's pretty dull and tedious, but, it is so much better than going out and seeing sights. You know, like, Trainers. I don't see the point in it, I really don't. Such journeys are for those that don't understand the concepts of hard work, or have family issues.

Sure, my mother acts like a mad bouffalant at times but, that wouldn't send me running out of the house yelling, "I'm going to catch a Pokémon now so I can use an excuse to never see you again! K, bye!" And my father's not that bad either.

Yeah, things are okay here, even if I sometimes find myself thinking about frying the is, only when I'm excluding that annoying rat-bird: Nameless. If I'm a freak of nature for understanding the grunts, squeaks and Arceus knows what else of Pokémon, then Nameless is an alien.

I was four when that thing showed up, squawking about how there'd be big things heading my way in the future – scary things. Not a nice way to introduce yourself, you know, scaring a kid. In fact, I remember whacking the murkrow in the face and running back inside the house screaming to my father about how a 'nasty birdie said scary stuff'. I guess it could be considered lucky that they'd caught on to my strange behavior around Pokémon early.

At the age of two and a half, they found me hanging around with Sniff; a working herdier. I'd been babbling to him about various things, pointing to stuff, and he'd reply in his language, then I gave something like a nod, except it was more a bob of my head, and then me falling over. That was around the same time that they became suspicious. Taking me to the doctor's, they had one of them check me over.

They'd said it was too early to know for certain, but, they were seventy percent sure that I had the strange ability to communicate with Pokémon on a higher level. Well, something like that. The general concept of the event and conversation was explained to me some time later when I was about seven. Before that, I'd thought that everyone could understand Pokémon.

It kinda put me off the entire routine.

Obviously, that didn't stop the nosy Murkrow, with that eerily weird closed third eye on his forehead. All the way through the rest of my childhood, that thing came back. Bothering me with useless trivia that flew past my head.

And now, this early in the morning, he decided to pay a little visit, as always.

I'd not long stepped out of the house; busy turning to head within the direction of the shed; when I heard a swish and the rat-bird was there nestling down on my shoulder. "Good morning!" he announced cheerily. "A pleasant, sunny day, don't you think?"

"Get off of my shoulder," I growled, glaring at him.

He laughed in that odd cough-like way of his. "No, you're in need of company today. I can tell."

"No, you can't."

"Yes, I can."

He gave me one of those weird smug smirks, which I've always thought were impossible. Especially on that big of a beak.

I rolled my eyes and glowered at the floor for a moment before shooting him an icy look. "… Don't start prattling on about Arceus knows what, then… you have a deal."

"Never said we had o-." He stopped short of finishing his words as I raised a fist. "Fine, it's a deal."

Pleased I'd managed to do something good this morning, I continued on my way to the shed, where I took to shovelling the hay into the waiting wheelbarrow. Autumn was coming in fast and if the mareep didn't get their hay, there'd be trouble.

As I worked, Nameless side-walked up on to my head. I sighed. Well, hey, as long as he was keeping silent, it didn't really matter.

Once the wheelbarrow was sufficiently full I began the process of wheeling it out. Though, as I got half-way across the field, something green and yellow flashed by, too fast for my eye to follow.

"What was that?" I asked, frowning. I stopped and stepped forward, shading my eyes against the sun to try to pinpoint whatever the heck had just whizzed past.

"No idea." Nameless hopped back on to my shoulder, his wings half-raised in a shrug. "Probably a Pokémon."

"Yeah, but, that colour wasn't native to any of the critters around here."

"A politoad, perhaps?"

I shot him a look. He clacked his beak and looked away. "… Probably not then."

"No," I replied, heavily lacing that one word with my agitation.

Politoads couldn't move that fast. If the field was made up of water, sure, but it wasn't. And whatever that thing had been, I was gonna catch it.

Nameless gave a cry of warning as I moved away from the wheelbarrow. "I don't think this is a good idea," he said.

"Was I asking you if it was?" I retorted.

He fell silent.

Advancing forward, I scoured the bushes and surrounding trees for anything small, green and yellow. Which, was a bit stupid, really; considering the Pokémon I was searching for was almost exactly the same colour as the foliage.

However, it seemed either luck was on my side, or the creature was just dumb, as it came skittering across my path a few seconds later. I didn't even bother questioning it – I lunged.

Immediately, several things happened at once: a surprised squawk from Nameless, and a rather nasty bite from the green thing. It hissed and clawed at my hands causing me to yelp and flail backwards in a spectacularly unsophisticated heap.

"Ha! So, you're the criminal, eh?" an oddly girlish voice piped up.

I groaned and made to get up, but I got shoved firmly back down by a stomp to the chest. "Ow!" I winced; pain lancing up my back. "What the… heck?"

"You are the one I'm after!" the thing said triumphiantly. "No, wait…" Suddenly, my vision became obscured by a crimson eye. It blinked, then withdrew. "… You don't look bad."

"No shit," I grumbled.

The pressure on my chest left and I was free to sit up, finally. Argh, I feel like a bouffalant had just run me over…

"What the hell's your problem?" I snapped, glaring at the Pokémon, which turned out to be a… snivy? Huh? Weren't they really rare in the wild?

The snivy looked down at its feet. "I'm on a case," she mumbled.

I raised a brow. Anger and confusion be damned; what was up with this reptile? "A… case? What are you talking about?"

Instantly, the snivy drew herself up to her full height and crossed her arms over her chest. "I am hunting for a suspect in crime."

"… Right." Like I was supposed to believe that.

"Everything alright down there?" Nameless called from above.

"Yeah, everything's just peachy!" I yelled back. "Thanks awfully for your valiant attempt at helping me out; you ass."

"Ass?" the snivy questioned, tilting her head.

Oh Arceus, she wasn't a kid was she?

She blinked up at me, all cute and innocent.

I groaned inwardly; she was.

"Uhhh, an ass is a type of, uh, blitzle. Yes, that's it! A blitzle." Inside I was mentally slamming my head against an imaginary brick-wall. Lying to a kid. Just brilliant.

She tilted her head, seeming to process this, and then nodded. "Okay."

Surprised that she'd taken the words as truth so easily, I sighed and ran one hand through my hair. The snivy sniffed, then twirled to look out at the pasture. I shuffled around a little to get a good look at her, confused at her behavior. She had her eyes narrowed and directed the trees way.

"What is it?"

She hissed quietly. "The suspect. He's hiding in that area, I'm sure of it."

"Um, I'd know if there was someone hiding out there. My parents, myself and the herdier keep an eye out for any intruders." I flashed her a pointed look, trying to get my point across that she herself was an intruder.

She outright ignored me. Without even acknowledging me, she headed off in the direction of the trees.

"A bit odd isn't she?" Nameless said, hovering close beside me. I shrugged. "We should go after her," he continued.

"… Right." Should we really? That snivy was a Pokémon after all; they could handle themselves way better than humans when it came to it. But, then again, she was an unwanted visitor on the farm. She might end up scaring the life out of the mareep…

I followed after her.

=.=.=

"Now, the scent was somewhere around here. I'm sure of it." Kara squinted her eyes, her nose close to the ground. She studied the earthy ground closely and crawled along, looking almost comically like a scaly lillipup. She took a deep breath and stood up a minute later, bending back to crack her spine. "Wrong area. He took a turn here."

She swerved and dropped onto all fours, trotting along after a subtle trail of pawprints. Every so often, she would pause to sniff at the earth, her eyes taking on a thoughtful look. However, she was forced to stop once the particular scent and tracks ended. Crossing her arms, she studied her surroundings closely. "He's either in the trees, or he's…" Before she could finish, a squealing noise echoed throughout the wooded area. She stepped back for a heart-beat, and then dashed off after the source of the sound.

=.=.=

"Argh, why is she proving so difficult to find?"

"Possibly because she is _green_?"

I shot a nasty glare up at Nameless. "I thought you were helping me find her? Your eyesight is far better than mine."

"Yes, but, let me point out again, she is _green. _Even with my far improved eyesight she will be difficult to find."

The little smug rat-bird… He could just flutter from tree to tree, he didn't need to over-exert himself finding some silly reptile. I viciously rubbed at my forehead in frustration, then glanced past my hand and at the trees beyond. What had that snivy said, something about a suspect? There had definitely been nothing else beside her and Nameless around… In fact, it had been pretty empty for the past couple of days. Was that a bad thing?

Suddenly, something squealed loudly to the far right. I turned, surprised. What the heck was that?

Nameless swooped low to land on the tree closest to me and cocked his head to the side. "… That sounded like a patrat."

"It didn't to me. Something in pain, yes, but not a patrat." I stared in the direction the noise had resounded from, then ended up breaking into a run. What if that had come from the snivy? She could be in trouble!

Brushing past low-hanging branches and jumping over shrubs, I stepped out into a small clearing. Truly, it always surprised me at how big the ranch really was. And this was only a part of it.

Sunlight illuminated the area and shone down on three figures. I paused a moment, trying to take in the sight before me. The snivy from earlier was standing a little way from what looked like a lillipup. It was snarling over a patrat, eyes crinkled and mouth open in a vicious display of teeth.

I had no idea what was going on, but, standing around gaping would accomplish nothing. "Hey, what the heck's going on here?" I stepped forward. Communication was one of the best ways to sort out problems, or so my father had always told me.

It turned out, it didn't apply for this sort of situation.

The lillipup twirled round, a rumble rising up in its throat. The snivy had been staring in shock at the Pokémon, but, the instant it turned to me, she blinked and dashed forward to stand in front of me.

"What…?" I managed to gasp, then the lillipup charged. It made for the snivy's throat, drool dribbling from its jaws. She easily evaded it, slapping it upside the head with her tail. It growled, snapping in her direction. She lowered her head and smashed against it, sending it flying. It hit the trunk of a tree and slid down, dazed.

"That's the culprit!" she cried, jumping back to stand close beside me. She glanced my way with a pleased smile.

"Culprit of what?" I replied. "How did it even get here?" The herdier should have been able to smell it out. How did they not notice?

"He kept himself hidden from sight and smell," she said, almost as if reading my mind. "He ran off with a Poké Ball containing a friend of mine." For a moment, a flash of sorrow entered her gaze, but, she looked away, hiding it from view. "And now he's commited murder," she continued, lifting her head to glance at the prone form of the patrat.

The lillipup got to its feet and shook itself. It glared the snivy's way, teeth bared once again. Something wasn't right. Usually, lillipup were fairly docile. I'd never seen one as vicious as this.

It charged at the snivy once again, all sharp teeth and feral snarls. She hissed and met the Pokémon head on, Tackling it and sending it sprawling. It lay where it was, still and non-moving. The snivy approached it, her expression wary. However, before I could even so much as call out, the lillipup had twirled, latching itself on to her leg. She cried out in pain and twisted gripping at its sides in a vain attempt to remove it.

Clenching my fists, I ran towards it, plucking it from the floor by the scruff and lifting it. I remembered my mom saying something about how flicking a lillipup's nose would release its grip, if one was to ever bite you. I decided to test those words.

It yelped and let go of the snivy, who dropped to the floor, twisting mid-air expertly to land on her fours. "Thanks," she gasped.

"Yeah, er, no problem." The lillipup's hackles raised and I quickly had clamp a hand over its jaws before it could cause anymore damage.

I was glad I knew how to deal with these things.

"Well, that could have ended worse," the familiar voice of the rat-bird called out.

I gritted my teeth. "You could have helped out."

"I doubt it, what with all these trees around and the small space. Not big enough of an area for me to fly in freely."

"Whatever," I muttered.

The snivy had been frowning in what must have been the bird's general direction as he had spoken. As soon as silence came back down on us all, she gestured for me to follow her. "I'll lead us back," she said. "Can you handle holding the criminal until then?"

I shrugged. Might as well go along with whatever she said, I guess. "Sure, but, you know, I don't need anyone as my guide. I know this place like the back of my hand."

But she'd already gone.

I sighed and looked down at the struggling lillipup. Now that I looked at it, it seemed a little smaller than average, and skinny. Had it gone wild from lack of food?

I kept my grip about its muzzle as I ventured back through the wooded area. It kept scraping at me with his paws and attempting to pull away, but, luckily it wasn't the healthiest of Pokémon so it's attempts were pretty much lost on me. Although, my arms ached afterwards.

Stepping back into the sunlight, I squinted, looking around for any sign of the snivy. The instant Nameless flapped back into open sky, he immediately dropped down to nestle on my head. Lovely.

From a distance, I heard an unfamiliar voice. Curious, I headed in the direction it came from.

"I'm sure she'll turn up soon." That sounded like Mom.

"Let's hope so. She's been doing this kind of thing for a couple of months now. I should never have let her watch those shows." That wasn't.

As I stepped ever closer, two figures came into view. My Mom stood talking to someone. Whoever it was, they donned a green version of the laboratory coat, with long dark brown hair. However, they had their back turned to me.

"So, she's come to take me back." The sudden quiet addition of the snivy's voice made me jump. I looked down to glare at her. She grinned sheepishly. "Sorry, didn't mean to frighten you."

"You didn't," I replied simply.

She shrugged and looked back over at the coat-wearer. "… I don't want to go back."

That was around the same time as Mom saw me. It's kind of funny to see a multitude of reactions that go whizzing past someone's face at a similar time to each other. And that's exactly what happened to my mom. She smiled, went to lift her hand in a little random wave, and then glanced down at the lillipup I was holding; frowned, then looked back up at me questioning.

I lifted one shoulder in a half-shrug.

The stranger turned around not long afterwards. She studied me for a moment, before turning her gaze downwards at the snivy. "Oh! There you are!" she exclaimed, rushing forward. "I've looked everywhere for you!"

The snivy hopped away before she could be engulfed in a hug. She didn't seem too happy about this meeting.

It was kind of obvious to me now that this woman must be a scientist. She glanced my way curiously, and then frowned once she caught sight of the lillipup. Yeah, I probably shouldn't have brought it back. Mom was looking my way now with a vague expression. I didn't need to read into it to know that I was in trouble.

"What happened?" she asked.

"Had a run in with this fellow, but, the snivy sorted it out."

The scientist gasped. "You fought that lillipup, Kara?"

She nodded, proudly drawing herself up and placing her hands on her hips.

"… And you beat it?"

"It took a little time, but, yes; with the help of the boy." She smiled my way. She might not understand the snivy, but, you didn't need much in ways of body language to know what was being said.

Just great.

The scientist's gaze focused back on me. She studied me intently. "You seem promising."

"Huh?" Promising? What was she talking about?

She turned to my mom. "Have you ever considered letting him leave the farm as a Trainer?"

No. No, no, no. Mom had never… I worked hard, so why would she ever consider that?

"Yes," she replied. "I have."

"What?" I exclaimed. "But, why? I'm fine where I am, and there's never been any need to-" As if on cue, the lillipup ferociously tried to wriggle out of my grip. I held tighter to it, worried in case the little abomination managed to escape and cause havoc among the mareep.

"It would be good practice," the scientist said with a small smile. "And a good build of character. You'd learn much from being a Trainer."

"I doubt it," I muttered darkly.

"Besides, Kara's been getting restless as of late. This is the third time in the past two weeks that she's ran away from the lab." She raised a brow and folded her arms. Scowling in mock annoyance at the Pokémon. She grinned up at her.

Nameless had been quiet this whole time. However, he shifted a little on his nest of my hair and peeked over my head. All I could see of him was a gigantic looming beak.

It took me by surprise that neither my mom or the scientist had noticed him. But, it didn't take that much longer. They both eyed him; my mom with a scowl and the stranger in surprise. … Was my hair really that dark and messy? Surely you couldn't miss Mr. Bird-brain.

"A murkrow?" the scientist asked, drawing closer. "They're quite rare here in Unova. How did you happen to find one?"

I shrugged. "He just flapped in front of my face one day, squawking and such." No need to add that bit about how he was shouting dumb prediction stuff. Wouldn't really help me out any in this predicament.

"Is he a pet?"

Nameless made some sort of half-growl, half-choking noise at this remark.

"No, he's just… a regular visitor."

She shook her head in wonder and stepped back. "Anyway, I'd suggest for you to visit Aspertia. An assistant of Professor Juniper is currently staying there. She should have a spare Trainer Card or two and a couple of Pokédex's. After all, the typical Trainer ceremony is just around the corner." She chuckled at her joke, or whatever she thought it was. "The Trainer Card's must be dragged through the machine in order for you to be registered," she told me. "Once that's done, just hover them over your current Pokémon and their data will be added to it. Of course, you'd have to capture them first."

I… got most of that, but, I was not going to go through with it. Nope. I'm perfectly happy with where I am now. I don't need to go off on some journey of self-discovery or whatever.

"I'll take that lillipup from you," she continued, moving forward and gesturing with both hands to the Pokémon. "It seems a little… off-colour." She frowned for a moment, her eyes roving the creature. It growled quietly.

"It doesn't seem to be in its right mind, if you ask me," I said, carefully lifting it towards her.

She went to grab it, then hesitated. She turned and pulled back her coat to withdraw a Poké Ball from her belt. Tapping the middle button, it enlarged and she opened it up. The next moment the lillipup was sucked inside, a crimson light flashing before my eyes. As I blinked to rid myself of the bright flash that accompanied it, I heard her clip the thing to her belt again.

"Kara will stay here with you until you're ready."

Kara saluted and glanced my way with a smile.

"Anyway, I should be heading back to town. I have some things to clear up back in Virbank. Maybe I'll see you there." She waved goodbye to the two of us and walked over to the gates. However, she paused mid-way there and quickly came back over. "I almost forgot. Here's Kara's Poké Ball." She handed it over to me. "Now, I'll be going." She sprinted off, as I stared down at the small device.

Mom turned to me. "You'll be leaving."

My mouth dropped open. "But… why?" I swore that at that point I whined.

"Because I think it will do you good. Your father can handle things around here while you're gone."

"… But at the moment he's sleeping. You know he's not a morning person."

"He is. He'll just have to get back into the routine of it," she said grimly.

"Tomorrow, I'd like for you to get up, washed, dressed and out of the door early, Luke. I don't want you lazing around. Besides, you can make good use of that phone I got you." She smiled.

Ah, the phone… That thing that I always left on the table, dead and alone… But, this wasn't the time to think about it. I didn't want to leave. Why should I?

"You are going, son. And that's final."

With that, she bustled me inside. Nameless abandoned me, by vanishing through the open window and Kara followed in after me, looking around the house with great interest.

"Get your things ready today. I don't want you forgetting anything now."

And that was how it all went down. I wish now that things would've been a little different. That I hadn't simply let Mom herd me out of the door the next day. Maybe then, what would happen later, would never come to pass.


	2. How to Start an Adventure

"Come on! Get up! It's time to go!" a somewhat familiar voice called.

My eyelids fluttered open slightly, enough for the morning light to come pouring in. I shut them again and rolled over with a grunt. "Need more sleep," I muttered.

"No you don't."

Next thing I knew, something landed heavily on my back. I yelped and twirled, kicking the covers back frantically "What the heck? What was that for?" Even as my sleepy brain tried to catch up with the return to reality, I knew who that voice belonged to. Adding in the realization as to the assailant of an uncalled for attack.

I glared at the snivy who now clung to my right shoulder with a huge-ass grin. "Up now?" she asked.

"No," I mumbled, flopping back down onto the mattress stubbornly.

"Liar," she said in a sing-song fashion. She crawled over onto the other side to stare into my face. "I'll keep annoying you until you get up."

"You weren't this bad yesterday," I grumbled. "Why behave like this now?"

"Because I want to," she replied smugly. "Now, are you going to get up, or am I going to have to keep jumping up and down on your back?"

I sighed dramatically and slowly pushed myself up into a sitting position, rubbing at my eyes. "Yeah, yeah, I'm up." Jeez, she was worse than Mom…

All the way through getting up, waking, getting dressed and all that, she twirled and twittered; it was as if I'd found myself my very own hyperactive pichu (or at least that's what they were like from what I'd seen of them on TV). She was a scaly ball of excitement and energy… It kind of made me feel sick to watch her in action. Instead, I just focused on trying to get through my regular routine and headed out of the door.

Already I just wanted to go back to bed.

Kara abruptly clambered up my trouser leg and slithered across the back of my jacket to sit comfortably on my shoulder. "You should hurry, you wouldn't want to keep Juniper's assistant waiting, would you?"

Sheesh, she was just as bad as Nameless… "They can wait." I shrugged. Who cares if I was late anyway? It wouldn't really matter, since they'd be waiting around all day, or something anyway.

Besides, I was pretty much forced into taking care of this hyper snivy. It wasn't like I was really going out on a journey… No, I sighed, I was. Why was this happening to me? What had I done to deserve this?

"Come on, then," she called, tugging at my hair. "The more time we waste, the less we'll have for the rest of the day."

"Uh, what?"

It was pretty much around that same time that Mom came round the corner, carrying a backpack of all things. … She really was serious about this.

"You should have all of the provisions you'd need in here," she said, lifting up the bag as she spoke. "Your phone is fully charged, so you have no excuse not to call me or send a text. And your charger is in the front pocket of the backpack."

"… Thanks." I took the backpack off of her and she handed over my phone, dropping it onto the top of the bag. Kara looked at it curiously. "Uh, where's Father?"

"Outside, waiting. He has something for you."

Okay, that's a first. "Right, well, I'll go and, uh, see him then."

"Take care, Luke." She smiled and patted me gently on the head. "It's not as bad as you might think."

Shouldering the backpack and shoving my phone into my jacket pocket, I walked outside.

Father stood, tall and intimidating, as usual, close to the entrance. His back was turned to me, his left hand resting on the head of Sniff, who stood staring out at the yard.

I cleared my throat and he turned. "Good morning, son. I hear you're finally deciding on taking on the training career."

"It's not really a career, Father," I said. Kara slid down from her perch to land on the floor. She moved over to stand before Sniff and they started their own little quiet conversation. I closed off my ears to it, used to having the familiar background noise of Pokémon rabble during my own conversations.

Father chuckled, a faint smile playing at his mouth. "Yes, I guess you're right. Has your mother gone through everything with you?"

"Kind of." If you count passing on a massive bag I'll have to carry around.

"Then you're more or less ready. You just need one last thing." Before I could say anything else he pulled out a black and white patterned scarf from his sleeve.

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. He had to pull off at least one 'magic trick' a day, didn't he? But, my annoyance was soon overcome by curiousity. "What's that for?"

"For you to wear," he replied. "I was once a Trainer, you know. And this scarf had followed me through all of those times. It's a little worn, but, I think it will do you well. After all, I used to think it had a little bit of luck attached to it." He laughed.

"Er, yeah." I eyed the scarf. It just looked like a regular piece of cloth to me.

He handed it over. "Now, you're ready." He smiled. "If you have any problems on the road, just call us."

I looked down at the scarf, and then put it on. Kara returned to stand by my side. She seemed somewhat happier than previously, if that was even possible.

"Go out there and do us proud," Father said.

I just nodded. There wasn't really much else I could do. And walked towards the gates.

It was almost like a nightmare; something I'd wake up from any moment now, but, I knew it wasn't. It was way too realistic. Even by my standards. I just hoped that something would happen to force me back home soon, so I wouldn't have to put up with this dumb journey.

=.=.=

I'd not gone far - the ranch was still in sight, if I turned to look behind me – when Nameless made his appearance. He immediately settled down on my head, as per the norm, the clacking of his beak alerting me a couple of seconds early to his soon-to-be announced speech. "No," I said. "Don't."

A loud click from Nameless was all I heard for several moments, until: "Why?"

I groaned.

"Why do you always follow the boy around anyway?" Kara asked, craning her neck in a vain attempt to spot him from where he sat. Surprisingly, she was walking alongside me. I was expecting that the instant I started this godforsaken journey, she'd start to use me as a resting post.

"Because," he replied, the sound of his feathers rustling too loudly in my ears.

"It's not as if he's all that special you know," she retorted.

"Oh, thanks," I replied, tone dripping in sarcasm. Why did I have such a lovely pair of companions? This was going to take way too long…

=.=.=

I'd only visited Aspertia twice. Once when I was younger when I went to stay with my cousin; Rupert, and the second time when I was told I was old enough to do my own shopping.

Rupert had long since moved to Sinnoh, so there was little in the way of interest for me in this town. It was big, yes, but Nuvema and those other towns were relatively the same in size. In Unova, size mattered. Or so it seemed.

The trek to town had been just as long, boring and annoying as I thought it would be. A couple of times we encountered a patrat or purrloin, but, Kara was always quick to knock it out; although, a particular purrloin managed to score a rather nasty mark down her side. Which was the reason why she was now resting on my shoulder - she had moaned about how it hurt for the short while she'd stayed walking.

Really, it was actually quite difficult to get lost in Aspertia. That was one of the good things about it; organized houses. Seriously. They hadn't been put up all over like how it was over in Castelia. So, it wasn't too hard to navigate through the streets.

Currently, I had paused to decide on whether the so-called assistant would be at the Pokémon Center or the lookout. Both were just as obvious a place as the other.

Taking my chances, I headed for the lookout.

As soon as we reached the top, Nameless took off. He flapped above my head and away, over the head of a pony-tailed girl who stood staring out at the land below.

I'd just made it up the stairs, when she spoke, "Amazing sight, isn't it? I can never get over it, you know. It looks really cool in Winter."

"Uh, yeah, I guess."

She turned, her gaze flickering from me to Kara and back in the same movement. "… Or you here for the Pokédex and Trainer Card?"

I shrugged. "Must be, seeing as I was told to go seek out an assistant here in Aspertia."

She frowned a little, the silence taking up the time it took for her to study me, before she nodded. "You seem like you'll be alright. You don't seem too bad, and that snivy doesn't look like she hates you. So, I'll trust you with them."

I raised a brow. … Right, hate. What kind of kids were they accepting?

"Here." She held out a black and grey device, fitted with two screens, a blank card clipped with a piece of cord rested over it. I carefully took them, turning over the Pokédex for a better look at it.

"Were you told what to do with them?" the assistant asked.

"Yeah, you fit the card into this slot here, right?"

"Yeah, that's right." She nodded. "It should record your data and print it on the card."

"Um, what?" I asked, staring at her in surprise. They did that? I thought you just passed them off to one of the nurse's at the center or the assistant or something to have them sorted out.

Again, she frowned. "You didn't know? Well, when you slot the card in, it prints off the data it's recorded. I always thought that was pretty cool."

I just find that weird.

"You'll be given free Poké Balls at the Mart once you're registered," she added.

"Uh, yeah, thanks."

I didn't loiter around after that, instead I headed back down the steps and leaned against the side of the nearest building to stare at the two objects.

Kara had been really quiet the whole time, her eyes on the Pokédex. "… I've always wanted to be able to start on a real adventure," she said quietly.

I glanced to her. "Hm?" Did I just hear that right?

She shook her head and continued to silently stare at the Pokédex. Right, well, that wasn't one of the most bizarre things to happen to me today… Besides, why had Nameless flown off? He'd said nothing before he'd left.

Usually, it didn't bother me, but, then again, I'd never really ventured far from the ranch. And Nameless always knew I'd be there, anyway. This was a little different.

I glanced up at the sky, pondering as to his disappearance, but, was brought quickly back down to earth at the sound of someone approaching.

It was a boy of around my age or maybe a little older, with unruly dark brown hair and green eyes. For some reason, he'd decided to wear a trench coat. Not really the weather, but, whatever. He looked me up and down and then stared at Kara.

"New to the Trainer world, eh?" he asked.

"Kinda," I replied. I'd much rather I was back at the ranch.

"Same as me then." He nodded to Kara. "That your starter? I've heard that snivy and oshawott are getting a little harder to come by."

Really? Well, I wasn't in the mood to talk. "I still have to register, so…"

"Oh, yeah, yeah, that's fine. Hey, maybe I'll see you around? We could have a battle, eh, what do you say?"

Kara dug her claws into my shoulder and I winced. "I guess?"

He grinned. "Cool, see you." He waved and headed up the stairs, taking them two at a time.

I had no idea what just went on then. Was this what Trainers had to put up with all the time?

Looking back down at the 'dex, I quickly slotted in the card and input my name, age, gender and town of birth. As soon as I selected the Confirm button, something whirred and clicked inside of the device. The next moment, the card was pushed back out. I pulled it away. What the assistant had said was true, all of the data I'd input into the 'dex was now printed out plain to see on the card.

I dropped the cord it hung to about my neck and tucked the Trainer Card beneath my scarf.

That was one less thing to think about now. I just had to get those free Poké Balls and head out of town.

=.=.=

"Here you go, sir. I hope they serve you well and I wish you good luck on your journey." The shopkeeper gave a little bow of his head.

"Um, thanks," I replied, tugging at one of the backpack straps, carefully lowering it to the ground and crouching beside it. I stuffed the five of the six Poké Balls into one of the two front pockets, then lifted it back up and onto my back. The last Poké Ball I shoved into my jacket pocket, where my new Pokédex now lay.

Kara had reminded me a little earlier of her cut and the recording of her data on the 'dex. The latter I'd done, as she hopped off of my shoulder and onto the floor. The former, well, that was where I was headed now.

"Welcome to the Pokémon Center! Would you like me to heal your Pokémon?" The nurse behind the counter smiled at me warmly.

"Yeah," I replied. "Just my snivy."

"Just put it back in its Poké Ball and I'll heal it for you."

Shrugging, I turned to Kara and pulled out her Poké Ball. Before she could say anything, she was sucked up into the crimson light and the capsule was placed on the counter.

"It should take a couple of minutes, so take the time to relax." She gestured to the chairs that lined the sides of the center.

I walked over and plopped myself down on one. I didn't think it'd take that long to heal your Pokémon… Huh, whatever.

I was reading a magazine left kindly on the table when I was called over. The nurse pushed my Poké Ball back towards me with a, "We hope to see you again!" and I released Kara a couple of seconds after that.

What was with that farewell? That was a little creepy.

I was just about to mention it to Kara when someone came skidding to a halt dramatically yelling, "There's a massive commotion going on outside! I think someone's badly injured!"

Kara was off like a shot.


End file.
